There are a number of disorders or conditions known as glucose regulation disorders in which the body is not able to regulate blood glucose within normal levels. Diabetes is one such disorder. Diabetes is a condition in which a person has a high blood glucose level as a result of their body either not producing enough insulin or because the cells of the body do not properly respond to insulin. The most common types of diabetes are: 1) Type 1 diabetes, which results from the body's failure to produce insulin; 2) Type 2 diabetes, which results from the body's resistance to insulin; and 3) gestational diabetes, in which pregnant women who have never had diabetes before, have a high blood glucose level during pregnancy.
Diabetes is a significant global health issue, with at least 171 million people worldwide suffering from the disease, about 2.8% of the population. The most common form of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes, which affects 90 to 95% of the U.S. diabetic population. Diabetes is typically treated through lifestyle modifications such as consuming an appropriate diabetic diet and exercising more, and through medications such as insulin. In spite of advances in treatment, there still remains a need for more efficacious treatment regimens for diabetes.
In the past 15 years, many discoveries have been made in understanding stem cells. There have been proposals to use stem cells for treating a wide variety of afflictions, including Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. Described herein are novel methods for the use of stem cells for the treatment of diabetes and other glucose regulation disorders.